This application is taking me a lot longer than I’d prefer to get done. I’ve spent significant chunks of a couple weekends working on a resume and practicing computer stuff that I haven’t done in a while. Now, I’m working on the cover letter.

My goal is to keep the resume and cover letter quite short. I want the package to be just interesting enough to warrant a follow up discussion, not to include so much that the reader has all their questions answered. The resume is down to a single page, and the cover letter is looking like two pages with the generous margins of LaTeX’s article class.

Part of the difficulty in the cover letter is in picking the three references that it’ll include.

It seems like these sort of adventures usually fit into life’s big transitions – between university and a career, after retirement, or maybe between jobs. It’s normal to ask for references when everyone expects you to be looking for work, but I intend to apply for this position while I’m in stable employment. An interesting challenge!

In terms of this application, I’m lucky that a guy who I worked with over the last year has recently left the company, so I can use them as a reference without much risk of my current employer finding out.

Given the choice between a year at Pole and my current job, I’d take the Pole gig. But, if it were down to a choice between being considered for Pole and my current job, I’d have to do some thinking. I worry that, if my employer found out that I’m applying, it might be a bit of a CLM – career limiting move – as a different colleague puts it.

Staying focused on writing is hard. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate on my application (or this blog post). I keep getting distracted by researching things that would be useful if my application were successful. There’s an offline browser for stackexchange!